Chrysler has 3 offers for Viper business

Chrysler LLC has had three offers to buy its Dodge Viper sports car business, co-President Jim Press said today.

Were doing due diligence, he said in a conference call with reporters.

Chrysler announced plans to sell the Viper operation in August. Sale of the business has since become part of the companys strategy to avoid bankruptcy. Chrysler must submit a restructuring plan to the U.S. Treasury by Feb. 17 and demonstrate its longer-term viability by March 31 in order to preserve a $4 billion federal loan.

We dont anticipate it will be done by then, said Press, referring to a possible sale by the March 31 deadline.

The Viper factory in Detroit employs about 110.

Chrysler sold 1,172 Vipers in the United States last year. Last month, Viper sales rose 74 percent from a year earlier to 127 units.